poor atlas. i do like making things play with him. his kitty cousins sent him some squirrel-shaped treats for christmas, and i cannot help but make every squirrel play with him before he gets to eat it.

i'd write more, but i just started reading your dog is your mirror (kevin behan) and it is so fascinating that now i have to finish it. i barely tore myself away from the book to write this post, and atlas has not gotten his evening walk. clearly 2012 is shaping up to be a year of good reading.

my friend heidi was here for a visit back in november and she took this photo of atlas and me. it's four of my favorite things: my beloved foiry (his latest nickname - it was "my beloved furry" and then i adapted it), nature, the pacific northwest, and autumn. love.

i am so happy to have this photo. i have three photos of atlas and me that i love. one is from 2003. one is from 2007. and now i have this one from 2011. interestingly, they were all taken in autumn, they were all taken outdoors, and we both look pretty much the same in all of them.

goodness, do i love this dog. i tell him that i love him more than the sun, the moon, and all the stars, and i mean every word of it. even when he's saucy. and i must say that since he turned 8 1/2, he seems extra-determined to get what he wants when he really wants something. it's sort of like he got up one morning and thought, "hey! i'm getting old! we shall do what i want from here on out." not that we weren't mostly doing that already ..

yes, there is a reason you cannot see his face. i was in the middle of a project involving a very long strand of twinkle lights. atlas was very unsure about it so i was trying to make him smile. it did not work.

i have decided that the definition for woebegone needs to include a picture of atlas wearing a t-shirt. doesn't he look miserable? i hated to do it, but he had a wound that needed to heal and would not stop licking it, and i finally got tired of shouting no at him.

if i ever wonder why i cannot get my dream bedding, i just need to look at this picture of muddy paw prints on the bed. (i feel like this photo does not even do the mud justice.) why is it that a) my brilliant rainy day ideas always involve a very wet and muddy dog and b) the same wet and muddy dog likes to dry himself off on my bed? i suspect that pre-atlas-me would think current-me has lost her sanity because current-me just looks at the paw prints and smiles because she is so happy that she has an atlas pup to track mud on the bed.

i feel like i had a funny atlas story i was going to tell you, only in this moment, i cannot for the life of me remember it. oh well. instead, i thought i'd share another atlas song, sung to the tune of "oh my darling clementine".

on tuesday, i took atlas for a walk at 7am because i needed to leave earlier than usual. he walked a few yards and went to the bathroom.

i continued on because, yay! a morning walk with my puppy!

atlas took a few steps. then, he stopped and gave me a look. the look said, "it is cold and dark and there is a still-warm bed calling my name. i already did what you wanted. why do you torment me so?"